D44 Rebuild

nope that is it....the brake line mount is on the passenger side and is threaded....the larger breather hole on top of the tube is how it is on my 70, but these earlier ones are a bit different.

 

those are the pictures prior to disassembly....it'll be a little bit of a balancing act trying to improve the pattern just a smidge, and yet since the gears have worn together like that for however long, don't want to change it too much.

 

progress is slowing to a crawl...but got the housing cleaned up enough to get new zircs installed for the wheel bearing cavity and welded up the axle tube vent:


Got the new vent drilled, tapped and installed in the top of the housing:


Most of my time was spent with the pinon....a couple of the first threads had some damage and I was having a lot of issue getting a nut to thread on...But after tracking down a big die at the local hardware store and a lot of stress with a file and a die, I got it cleaned up pretty good without making it worse and unusable (which was the stressfull part - didn't want to deal with replacing the R&P). Those threads look pretty good now....also pressed on the new inner bearing:


Drove in the inner bearing cup with the shims behind it - just trying to copy the existing pinon depth (although I erred on the side of a thousandth or so short on the stack instead of a thousandth or so thick - so that will raise the pinon up just a smidge:


So now I need to drive in the outer bearing cup, build the outer bearing stack and test for rotational torque....then I will be pretty much on hold until I receive the clamshell puller, or I figure out a way to remove the existing carrier bearings without damaging them so that I can use them for set-up bearings. I used my existing bearing splitter and puller on the inner pinon bearing, and it definitely likes to damage the cage....maybe for the carrier bearings, even if damaged just a bit, I can cut the cage off and remove the rollers but still use for set-up bearings? Its really all about the thickness of the center structure? I've also got some axle bearings and seals that are due to arrive later this week so can always get those all set-up and ready for install.

 

let the trial and re-trial process begin....put in the exact .071 outer pinon shim stack and rotational torque came out just a bit too low at 10inch-lbs:


so drive the pinon out and pull out the thin .002 shim and i think it should be about right....looking for something around 15in-lbs....dinner and a beer first....
thinking...since I went .001" or so less on the inner shim stack, wondering if that reduced the preload just a bit....if I am thinking of this correctly, reducing the inner shim stack moves the bearing cup closer to the outer cup (which is always driven to the housing seat), so that would reduce the preload. Of course, some of it is just differences in machining of bearings etc....

 

I got it ...I had to remove a .002 shim....


I am not 100% pinon depth is spot on, so going to leave the seal and slinger etc out until I get the carrier shims set and verify good pattern. It won't be fun removing the pinon again and inner cup to change those shims if needed, but will do what needs to be done to get it right. But I matched the old inner shim pack to within .001, so it's got a good chance of working as is.

 

Waiting for parts....hoping the brown truck stops by a couple times in the next few days....
Last thing I could do before waiting waiting was transfer the ring gear from the OEM open case to the PL case....

I can try...not sure what you mean tool wise - I guess beyond the standard wrenches and sockets? it seems mostly you need a variety of pullers and I find a slide hammer with little attachment makes removal of the inner axle seals trivial.
As for pullers, I use the traditional BIG hub puller for the rear hubs:


A slide hammer could help with pulling axles, but after I had pressed off the drums from the hubs (getting replaced), I did the old drum as a slide hammer against the hub to pop them out. Metal shaper has a vid about making an axle puller, but assuming the axle isn't damaged, they come out with a bit of slapping.
I also use a homemade yoke wrench you can see in the pic above to help with pinon nut work.
I use a bolt style puller to help with removal of the yoke.
I use a variety of sizes of seal/bearing drivers and some extra long make shift driver handles as the standard handles are too short to reach down into the housing...
And a bearing puller - still waiting on the clamshell (but that's a different story). If using a bearing splitter, it needs to be BIG.
Brass drift and collection a various shop items (old sockets and pipes etc) to help with pressing and driving stuff in and out. I also really like having a press - so much better than always having to drive and beat stuff on or off.
*added - you'll need a low value torque wrench for measuring rotational torque on the pinon - target is 12-20 inch pounds.

I can get a parts list in a bit for bearing and seal etc info.

 

Here are some parts numbers that I used - this is for 19spline D44 - note most these parts are NOT compatible with 30spline
Outer axle seal (grease): Crown J0914802 (summit version comes with 2 gaskets, some retailers sell the gaskets separately so pay attention)
Inner axle seal (oil): Crown J0640959
Axle bearing/race: Timken 25877/25821
Carrier bearing/race: Timken 25577/25523
Inner Pinon bearing/race: Timken 31594/31520
Outer Pinon bearing/race: Timken 02872/02820

*I got my carrier/pinon bearings, shims and pinon seal/slinger, ring gear bolts and carrier gaket as part of a Yukon rebuild kit: YK D44-19 (may also be listed under 14022)
PS EDIT - I would not use this Yukon kit - it had the wrong carrier bearing races (25520 was included but the correct part is 25523) as well as the wrong oil slinger...

This little pinon seal gasket did not come in my yukon rebuild kit (although I think the new style seal they included does not require it): Crown J0636565

Let me know if there is anything else parts wise you might need or that I missed...

 

I filed a inquiry with ebay a couple days ago....after 3 days you can then file a request to cancel and refund order....looks like the last few months most of the reviews are very negative.....I ordered a second one though the ebay seller 47v6 listed in the original post about it for $80....its already shipped out of WA and arrived in Bozeman this morning - hope to have it tomorrow. I may loose my $47 on the other deal, or maybe ebay will refund....I knew it was a bit risky. If it somehow arrives, I'll sell it cheap to someone around here....

 

updated the parts list in post #33....I can eventually copy it all up to post number one....

 

First attempt at getting the new PL case installed....I am using the old bearings as set-up bearings and i recognize that isn't absolute best practice, but these bearings seem to be in good shape. As I am setting this up with the original used R&P in the same carrier/housing, the shim stacks that came out should be a pretty decent starting spot.....I am trying to essentially match the existing wear pattern and maybe improve the backlash just a bit from the .010" that it had previously....
Here is the new set-up pattern on the drive side:


coast side:


I think the pattern is coming out okay in terms of in terms of height between the root and crown, but seems to be too far towards the toe. Here is the old pattern again - if anything, its possibly a smidge low, but its more centered between the heel and toe:


Based on wanting to move the pattern away from the toe and towards the heel just a bit, I need to move the ring gear away from the pinon (move some shim stack from bolt side to the tooth side). Doing this will increase backlash.....The current backlash is just over .008" and I am worried that I will end up with too much backlash. If I end up with too much backlash, I think I will need to reset the pinon deeper?

 

I moved the shims a bit toward the tooth side to push the ring gear away from the pinon....I went right up till the backlash was back at the max of .010 (and the same as where it was with the old case when it came out). It produced a ok pattern that mimics pretty close to what came out. The drive side is good - the coast side is still a bit towards the toe, but I would take it. I like the pattern - just wish I could squeeze the backlash down a bit. Guess I have to decide if its good as is, or if I should mess with pulling the pinon and trying to set it a bit deeper?
I like this pattern though:

 

yup....decreasing the pinon depth stack will increase backlash and I'll have to move quite a few shims from tooth side to bolt side (which isn't that hard as I am using set-up bearings)....Its getting the inner pinon race out to reset the pinon depth stack is where things get to be a PITA....Trying to figure out if a few thousandths less depth stack would work, or go big and remove a .010 shim?